Local News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sensing a moment of political vulnerability on national security, Republicans pounced Friday on disclosures that President Barack Obama's administration could have known early on that militants, not angry protesters, launched the attack on U.S. diplomats in Libya.

Within 24 hours of the deadly attack, the CIA station chief in Libya reported to Washington that there were eyewitness reports that the attack was carried out by terrorists, officials told The Associated Press. But for days, the Obama administration blamed it on an out-of-control demonstration over an American-made video ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

"Look around the world, turn on your TV," Ryan said in an interview with WTAQ radio in the election battleground state of Wisconsin. "And what we see in front of us is the absolute unraveling of the Obama administration's foreign policy."

An underground power failure affected parts of North Mesa at approximately 1:45 p.m. Thursday. Specifically, a single phase of three phase power was lost to homes on San Ildefonso and Alamo Roads, reported officials at the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities.
DPU’s electric line crews initiated temporary repairs by back feeding electricity to restore power to the Alamo neighborhood by 4:30 p.m. Power was restored to the remaining customers on San Ildefonso Road by 4:45 p.m.
Permanent repairs will continue Friday, with a brief power outage expected as those repairs are finalized. The underground line failed beneath the bus stop area at Hawks Landing and San Ildefonso.

Blue Star Mothers and the Dept. of Veterans Services are hosting a Veterans Bazaar from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at 2011 Industrial Park Road, Española. This location is the National Guard Armory. For more information call Lena at 927 2687.

Trail dedication

Residents are invited to attend the dedication ceremony for the new Satch Cowan Trail at 11 a.m. Monday at the trailhead near the existing Quemazon Trail in Western Area.

CRC committee

Members of Charter Review Committee will be available at the Farmer’s Market to answer questions. Join them between
9:30-11:30 a.m. Committee members plan to meet with voters at the Farmer’s Market every Thursday between now and the day of the election.

LDRD Day

LANL will host its annual Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Day at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday at Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort.

County Council

The Los Alamos County Council will hold a special session at 7 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers.

It was likely the last forum for Los Alamos County Council candidates Thursday night at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.

The event was co-sponsored by the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce and the Los Alamos Monitor and the candidates fielded questions tightly focused on economic development and business cultivation in the county.

Candidates for the New Mexico House District 43 seat are facing a new challenge this year: attacks generated by Political Action Committees that operate outside the candidate’s campaign.

PACs are sending out mailers with information the candidates’ say distorts their positions. The PACs are also conducting “push polls” that use negative or misleading questions about a candidate under the guise of seeking an opinion.

“This is really the first time, I think, we’ve had to contend with this kind of atmosphere, this is not the way it was when I ran in 2010 at all,” candidate Stephanie Garcia Richard–D said.

The District 43 race is one of the most competitive races this year and one that could determine whether the House remains under Democratic control.

At least 10 PAC attacks have been issued on both sides of the campaign. Since PACs operate independently, neither Garcia Richard nor her opponent Jim Hall–R have a way to track the extent of what’s really been generated by these groups.

“You just don’t know, because they send them to targeted groups, and sometimes the candidates become aware of them and sometimes they don’t,” Hall said.